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Called Higher: Growing up in God · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey y'all, happy Friday. This is friendly.
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  Thanks for joining me on yet another episode on In the
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  Stillness. I'm super excited for today's
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  episode because this part of First John carries both so much
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  conviction with reassurance, and I think it is such a good
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  reminder for all of us to hear. So as we're continuing, what I
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  love about John's writing is the tone that he writes in.
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  You can tell that he's not just writing as a teacher, but as a
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  father. And at this point, John is
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  older, he has walked with Jesus physically, and he has lived
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  most of his life in full time ministry.
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  So he is writing to believers that he deeply loves and cares
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  about, almost like spiritual children.
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  And as I was reading this, it kind of reminded me of how Paul
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  talks to believers being his joy and his crown as we see in
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  Philippians 4 verse one. There's such a deep desire for
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  these spiritual fathers like John and Paul to see people not
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  just believe, but to truly grow up in their faith.
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  So having said that, let's go ahead and read today's passage.
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  We're just going to be in 2 verses, so it's going to be
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  short and sweet, but it is super powerful.
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  Starting in chapter 2 verses one through 2.
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  My dear children, I write these things to you so that you won't
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  sin. But if anyone does sin, we
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  continually have a forgiving Redeemer who is face to face
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  with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. 1 He is the
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  atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also
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  for the sins of the whole world. OK, right from the get go John
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  says. My dear children, again, that
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  fatherly tone that I was talking about, what he's about to say
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  matters so deeply to him. He says, I write these things to
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  you so that you won't sin. That is the goal.
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  And I think this ties perfectly into what we were addressing
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  yesterday, talking about confession, because confession
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  is not meant to be an excuse to just stay the same.
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  We're not called to live in a continuous cycle of sin and then
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  confess and then repeat and then do it again.
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  There's actually a deeper calling to maturity.
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  Just like in the natural, there are different expectations for a
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  5 year old versus say, a 15 year old.
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  In the same way, spiritually, we are to grow.
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  We're not to stay stuck in the same immature patterns.
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  Paul speaks to this in Colossians 1 verses 10 through
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  11, and he prays that the church would grow in the knowledge of
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  God being strengthened and increasing in spiritual wisdom.
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  And then we also see in Second Timothy 2 verse 22 that we are
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  to flee the evil desires of youth and to pursue
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  righteousness, faith, love and peace along with others who are
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  calling on the Lord out of a pure heart.
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  So that is talking about fleeing those immature flesh driven
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  patterns. So the question I think then
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  becomes, am I growing or am I staying the same?
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  Because truly pursuing Jesus, it's not about maintaining A
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  baseline, it's about committing to becoming more like Jesus
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  every single day. And I believe something that can
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  subtly creep in is this mindset of, well, I know that God is
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  going to forgive me, which is true, but it can be misused.
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  And Paul actually talks directly to this in Romans 6 verses one
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  through 2. He says, should we continue in
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  sin so that grace may abound? Absolutely not, because God's
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  grace is not to be taken advantage of in an impure way.
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  Grace is not permission, it's actually transformation.
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  There is power connected to that grace, and we're not made to
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  live in bondage to sin. Romans 6 verse 23 tells us that
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  sin leads directly to death, but that is not our inheritance as
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  children of God. Instead we are called children
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  of light. And if God our Father is light
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  as John keeps emphasizing, then we are called to reflect that.
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  And Leviticus 11 verse 44 says be holy because I am holy.
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  And this is echoed again in first Peter one verse 16.
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  So we have an Old Testament reference and we have a New
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  Testament reference. So instead of asking what can I
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  get away with or how close to the line can I get, we need to
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  start asking ourselves, how can I best reflect my Father?
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  How can I be as holy as I possibly can?
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  And then John shifts in these two verses because this is where
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  the reassurance comes in, he says.
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  But if anyone does sin, not if you're perfect, but when you
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  fall, he reminds us that we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the
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  righteous 1, the anointed 1. And this is so significant
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  because our enemy, Satan, he's referred to as the accuser,
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  meaning that he loves to bring those accusations in your
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  thoughts, in your mind. He wants to just surround you
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  with guilt and shame to make you feel like your case is still
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  open. He is trying to put that death
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  penalty on you. But John is saying, uh, uh, your
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  case has already been handled. It's already been taken care of
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  by Jesus. Because think about it, The
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  judge who sits on the throne, the judge's son, Jesus Christ,
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  is your advocate. He's not just near the Father.
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  He is face to face with the Father and He is speaking on
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  your behalf. He is interceding for you.
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  Romans 8 verse 33 through 34 says who can bring a charge
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  against God's elect? Christ Jesus is the one who died
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  and He is interceding for us. Hebrews 7 verse 25 says that He
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  lives to intercede for us. So when the enemy tries to
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  accuse you, I encourage you to remember Jesus already paid for
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  that. The penalty is paid, the wrath
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  of God is satisfied, the case is adjourned.
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  You are not on trial anymore for that sin.
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  We are called to confess it, but to repent and turn from it, not
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  to live in condemnation. And I love this picture that
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  John gives us. You're as safe as Jesus is
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  because if you are in Jesus Christ, if you're a born again
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  believer, you are united with him.
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  So he is your defender. One of my favorite songs is
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  Defender by Abby Gambo and Upper Room.
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  So if you haven't listened to it after this pod, go listen.
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  But he defends you, He is your righteousness, He is your
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  covering. Which means we don't just
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  receive forgiveness, we are also cleansed, purified, we are
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  forgiven and we are made new. So a question to reflect on is,
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  am I still sitting in the seat of judgement over myself, or am
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  I actually living in the freedom that Christ paid for?
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  Because freedom from sin also translates into freedom to
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  follow him fully and without shame.
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  John expands on it even more, saying that Jesus is not just
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  the atoning sacrifice for our sins, but for the sins of the
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  whole world. And as I sat with that, it was
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  kind of overwhelming because if you think about how hard it's
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  been to maybe forgive one person who has hurt you, and to think
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  that Jesus took on everything, even forgiving the very people
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  who put him on that cross, who made him endure the worst
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  torture possible, when you begin to grasp even a glimpse of that
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  kind of forgiveness, it changes you.
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  You cannot receive that and not be moved to give it, not just to
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  people close to you, but even to strangers, to people who can't
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  give you anything in return. That's the love of the Father
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  freely flowing through you. So to wrap up, I want to address
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  how we see Jesus in this passage.
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  We see Him as our forgiving Redeemer, our Advocate and our
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  intercessor, our righteousness and the atoning sacrifice, the
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  One who made a way for us to be fully restored.
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  He paid our amends. Guys, He has completely covered
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  the cost of sin, and we are no longer defined by it.
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  So let's closeout in prayer. Jesus, thank you for your
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  sacrifice, for your body that was broken for us, for your
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  blood that streamed so freely. And you did not just call us out
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  of sin. You made a way for us to live
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  free from sin. We praise You for being our
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  advocate, for standing in our place, and for fully paying the
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  price that we could never even pay.
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  Would you help us to not take Your grace lightly, to not take
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  advantage of it in an impure way, but to walk in true
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  repentance and to pursue holiness as Your dear children?
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  Would you grow us in spiritual maturity, increase our spiritual
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  wisdom and understanding, and Father, make us to look more
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  like Your Son? We want our lives to depict Your
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  light and Your love and Your truth.
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  Would you make us more and more holy just as you have called us
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  to be holy as you are? May everyone around us see the
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  light of Christ in US. Jesus, we pray this in your
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  name, God. Amen.
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  OK y'all. Well, that is today's episode.
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  Praying for you guys as you continue your Friday or whenever
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  you're listening to this and that.
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  Y'all have a wonderful weekend and that you feel the Lord's
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  presence every single moment. I'll see y'all in the next
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  episode.